8574 Arachnida. 



to the genus Caelotes, of which only one species has been before 

 described. 



Family Theridiid^e. 

 Theridion spirafer. 



Male, adult. Length 1-ninth of an inch. Length of cephalothorax 

 1-nineteenth. Relative length of legs, 1, 2, 4, 3. 



Cephalothorax but slightly raised in front. A deep oblique inden- 

 tation behind each lateral pair of eyes, and one in the medial 

 line of the hinder part. Very sparingly furnished with hairs. 

 Colour dull yellow, of an amber tint. Margins dull blackish 

 brown. A broad central band of red-brown includes the eyes, 

 and narrows gradually to the hind margin. 



Eyes on tubercles. The two centre ones form a square, if anything 

 a trifle wider in front than behind. The eyes of the side pairs 

 almost touch each other, and are placed slightly obliquely. 



Legs of the same colour as the cephalothorax, and hairy. The. 

 first pair is much the longest; they are blotched with dark red- 

 dish brown at the joints, and the upper halves of the tibial joints 

 of the males are suffused with red-brown. 



Abdomen oval, very convex above, thickly clothed with hairs, and 

 projecting considerably over the base of the cephalothorax. Its 

 pattern on the upper side consists of three longitudinal bands ; 

 the centre one narrows towards the spinners, and is of a dark 

 black-brown, strongly dentated on the edges, which are bounded 

 by a clear broad line ; this line dilates over the fore part of the 

 abdomen, and is often tinged with green and red : the central 

 band may be described as consisting of a series of blunt-ended, 

 black-brown, diamond-shaped patches, of which that nearest 

 the cephalothorax is far the largest, and has its hinder part 

 much shorter than the fore part. The band on each side of the 

 central one is of a yellow-brown colour, with a warm reddish 

 tinge, obscurely mottled with whitish yellow and brown points : 

 these bands are irregularly dentated on their lower sides, and 

 also edged with a bright yellow line. The sides of the abdo- 

 men are yellowish brown, with numerous zigzag perpendicular 

 lines of deep black-brown, in some specimens having merely 

 the appearance of being mottled with that colour. A broad lon- 

 gitudinal band of dark brown, edged with bright yellow, occu- 

 pies the under side. 



Maxillae, labium and falces like the cephalothorax in colour ; the 



